Thursday, September 19, 2013

Prairie Ridge Shawl ~ My New Design & Kits for Infinite Twist!

Hi, Knitters,

Today is a special day here on the blog, be sure to read to the end for an extraordinary opportunity for you. I have been working for about a year on this new shawl design and developing and coordinating ideas with this incredible yarn company, Infinite Twist. A year in the making for this concept! The hard work has been well worth it. The design and the yarn are a match made in heaven.

Today I am privileged to be hosting a giveaway for a kit to make my new shawl design, the Prairie Ridge Shawl, giving you information on where to purchase your own kit and mostly, letting you know about this interesting and inspiring yarn company, Infinite Twist. It's a big day!

Never have I felt so much love for a design before due to the back story of the handspun yarn and company, Infinite Twist.

I wish you could feel this shawl through the screen. It is soft and luscious. The yarn is 100% wool and the barber poling of colors in the yarn creates a heathered, almost tweedy effect in the fabric. There is something really different and special about this finished project. The color of the yarn really reminds me of the purple prairie flowers I have been enjoying all summer on my hikes.

The Prairie Ridge Shawl is versatile in the ways you can wear it. It sits nicely simply draped over your shoulders, you could add a shawl pin to hold it in place or tie it in the front, you can wrap it up closely around your neck or drape it over your shoulder and tie the ends in the back.

For different ways to wear your shawl check out my video on YouTube called, Ways to Wear Your Shawl. Click here to view!

In the photo above I have the shawl over my shoulders and tied in the back. This is one of my favorite ways to wear a shawl. It stays put this way.

You can see how nicely the shawl sits on my shoulders and just envelops me in the lovely handspun yarn. It is an incredible feeling to wear this shawl.

Above I have the shawl wrapped up around my neck. I can't wait to wear the shawl wrapped around my black wool coat in the winter months ahead. That will be so warm and cozy.

The Prairie Ridge Shawl is like a sister in shape to my shawl from last year, the Quaker Ridge Shawlette. As you know, because I've said it many times, this half-circle shape is my favorite for a shawl. If you knit the Quaker Ridge Shawlette you'll find the Prairie Ridge Shawl similar in shape but different in many ways such as: a different cast on and start up, much easier increases, worsted weight yarn instead of a sport weight, a simple lace pattern worked in with stockinette stitch sections, and two edging options (a ruffle or a simple garter edge). The Prairie Ridge Shawl can be made any size because you can stop of any point in the pattern to make a smaller shawl or continue on with the sections to make a larger version.

The gauge
for this shawl doesn’t have to be exact, however, the yardage requirements will
vary if the gauge is different. Also, this pattern doesn’t require a certain
number of stitches at any given point; you can easily make your shawl larger or
smaller by continuing on or stopping at any time. Stopping at the end of a
repeat is recommended when changing the size of the shawl.

(The 3 colorways for the shawl kits!)

And only because I know I will be asked this, right now the pattern is only available in kit form exclusively through Infinite Twist! Please take advantage of this beautiful kit offering if you are able. You won't regret it.

In January 2014 the single pattern will be available for download through my Ravelry Pattern Shop. I will let you know when the pattern is available for download. It will become available on this page, click here! The Prairie Ridge Shawl is a great project for your own handspun as well.

Here is some important information about Infinite Twist provided by the founder, Cate Carter:

Your fingers only need to dip into a
skein of Infinite Twist yarn once to understand that this is no ordinary yarn.
This is a labor of love that has taken generations to perfect, and provides
much-needed income to vulnerable populations of women in China.

All Infinite Twist yarn begins its
journey as buttery, super-soft wool from Northern China. It is dyed in small
batches and passed into the hands of masters of a fast-fading craft, to be
hand-spun into heirloom-quality yarn.

Hand-spun yarn is a tactile delight to
work with. Interacting with materials made by a craftsperson rather than a
machine takes your knitting, weaving, crocheting, or other fiber art to a new
level.

Cate Carter-Evans, founder of Infinite
Twist, is responsible for the magical color combinations. All dyeing is done
with safe and colorfast dyes sourced in the U.S.

Qinghai Hand-spun is a
springy wool that gives great stitch definition and an attractive corded
appearance. This yarnis spun by the women
of the Qinghai Spinner’s Cooperative.The Cooperative was founded by social-venture Shokay in 2010, and
provides jobs for rural Tibetan women in China’s Qinghai Province.

Halo Shine pairs
one strand spun with hand-painted roving with a Navajo-piled strand of shiny
rayon.

Halo Semi-Solid is
kettle-dyed in small batches, and can be custom ordered in a range of 28
colors.

Our Halo family of yarns takes its name
from the gorgeous bloom of fibers it develops after blocking. The Halo family
of yarns is spun by Infinite Twist’s Shanghai-based spinners.

Infinite Twist’s yarn line may be new,
but the development of our heirloom-quality yarns began generations before.

Founder Cate Carter-Evans inherited her
passion for spinning and dyeing from her grandmother, learned knitting and
crochet from her mom at the age of 5, and adopted patience from her father by
spending time in his wood shop.

Cate has conducted more than six
trainings in the Qinghai Province for the cooperative’s members, helping them
apply their traditional spindle spinning technique to spinning with
foot-powered Acadia spinning wheels. With a professional background in product
marketing for apparel and accessories, Cate is thrilled to be putting her
skills to work in service of what she’s most passionate about – yarn!

Her love of fiber began with color and
she considers herself a colorist first and foremost. Take a look at the
whimsical colors in the Infinite Twist collection, like the orange rose Shreveport,
the incandescent Indoor Fireworks and the delicious Granny Smith,
to see her talent in action.

She
currently lives in Shanghai, China with her husband and three cats. When she
isn’t teaching knitting classes you can find her dyeing yarn in her kitchen or
spinning in her studio.

Zuo (in the photo above) is one of the spinners who has been working very hard on spinning up the kits for the Prairie Ridge Shawl. She is a very talented spinner as you'll see in the yarns below. I thought you might like to know a little about her:

Spinner
Profile:Zuo

Zuogrew
up in Anhui province, one of the poorest in China.

With a
7th
grade education, she moved to Shanghai with her husband and young sons
in
search of a better life for their family,
good
schools, and jobs.
She worked
as a restaurant dishwasher, and her husband worked as a driver.

In
her home village, her mom and the other village women were all makers – they
could all spin knit, sew, and do embroidery. Zuo
continues this tradition with her spinning and knitting.

Zuo
has worked for Infinite Twist for just over a year. She and her mom spin the
Halo family of yarns.

Zuosays
she loves her job
because she can work from home. She saves gas money for her motorcycle, doesn’t
have to commute, and gets to spend more time with her family.

I had so much fun working with Cate on customizing and selecting the kit colorways for you to enjoy. I love nature and the nearby prairies and of course, fall. All of these loves of mine played into the color selections being offered by Infinite Twist.

Can you believe the color and depth of the glorious Iris Garden yarn above? As soon as I saw Iris Garden in the box from China I knew immediately that this would be the color for the shawl sample. I only wish you could all squish and feel how unique this yarn is in person.....

The Iris Garden yarn pulls you in and makes you never want to stop knitting. I could not put the shawl down once I started working with this yarn.

My next shawl is already on my needles and it is in this gorgeous blend of milk chocolate and very dark chocolate browns. The yarn colorway is appropriately called, Box of Chocolates. This is another kit colorway for the Prairie Ridge Shawl.

So here are the color choices, Iris Garden, Autmnal or Box of Chocolates. The kits are selling for $95 and I want to talk about this for a brief second. The Quaker Ridge Shawlette, my last shawl, uses three skeins of Madelinetosh Pashmina. Pashmina sells for about $30 a skein, so the total price was around $90 for the shawl. For the Inifinite Twist Prairie Ridge Shawl kits to be priced at $95 is amazing. You are getting handspun worsted weight yarn and the pattern and you are helping support women like Zuo in China all for about the same price as 3 skeins of Madelinetosh. It's really a good thing.

The kits are a great deal.

Here are the links again for the Prairie Ridge Shawl kits now that you've seen the colors:

You can see the slight halo on the blocked shawl above. The yarn is called Halo Heather and blooms up so nicely when blocked. I love a ruffle and an eyelet row mixed with a worsted weight tweedy yarn. It is a gorgeous combination.

I made video tutorials on how to block the Prairie Ridge Shawl using wires and pins on my YouTube Channel. The tutorial is in four parts:

You, of course, don't need to use pins and wires to block your shawl. You could just wash it in a wool wash and spread it out on your floor or table or bed or wherever is good. That will be plenty to get a good blocking.

My son and I headed out to the nearby nature conservancy where I do a lot of my hiking and walking and running. I am in there almost every day of the week. We brought some twine and ties to hang the shawl somewhere in the prairie section of the conservancy. We ended up stringing the shawl between one small tree and then over the branch of a much larger tree but the twine needed tension to support the shawl once we clipped it onto the string.

So the tension giver was me! My son took this photo without me knowing. I thought you might enjoy seeing a tiny behind the scenes view. Look at the beautiful prairie and the gorgeous skies and that spectacular Prairie Ridge Shawl suspended in the air. It was a day to remember.

If you win you get to pick the colorway for your kit, either Iris Garden, Box of Chocolates or Autumnal. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of Infinite Twist and which colorway is your favorite. Don't miss out on this chance!

Leave only one comment that includes an email address or your Ravelry ID so I can get in touch with you to get your mailing address if you win. Please be patient and don't enter more than once. It takes awhile for your comment to appear on the blog post because I have to approve each comment to prevent spam. I will randomly select a winner in a couple of days.

Let the comments begin! Good luck to you all. This is a huge opportunity!

You have done it again! Beautiful pattern paired with a fantastic yarn! A person could get lost in the depth and variety of color in all those colorways. The purple is really gorgeous, but I like the chocolate best. Vicki.maynes@gmail.com

What a lovely pattern and such an amazing and inspiring story behind the yarn. It looks scrumptious! I especially love that spinning wheel, and I think it's neat to see it being used in China after coming from my home state of Maine. I love all the colorways, too...maybe Autumnal could be my favorite...?

I'm just a sucker for a touching story, and I'm just a sucker for gorgeous yarn, and I'm just a sucker for a new shawl pattern. Have made every one you've ever suggested. I'd definitely choose the Iris Garden color because of my silver hair -- love browns but they don't love me. This was such fun to read this morning -- love the story of Zuo -- thanks for including that. You've made my morning smile!

What a beautiful shawl! I've been waiting for this one since you did the awesome videos on blocking. Infinite twist seems like a wonderful company. I love that they are training their spinners and helping women better their lives through fiber art. Already purchased a kit but would love to win one to make as a gift. Love reading about all the love and hard work that went into this project. ❤️ Kriste (kristebee on ravelry)

I can see why this is worth the wait. A wonderful pattern paired with a gorgeous handspan yarn....what more could you ask for? All color ways are beautiful, but I would select the Iris because I could wear it to my Red Hat meetings! Thank you for making this offering possible.Rav ID: daylily1220

I think the shawl is gorgeous...and as I sit here on a cold morning in New Jersey, I wish I had it on! I love all of the colors, it is very hard to choose, but I think Box of Chocolate would be a great addition to my wardrobe.Ravelry Name: JerseyShoreDeb

Beautiful! I loved reading the history of Infinite Twist and the spinner profile. Sounds like a fabulous company - I am intrigued! Today I'm really feeling the Box of Chocolates colorway. Guess I'm feeling wintery already! :)ErikaC on Ravelry

Beautiful pattern! And I love the story behind the yarn. As a spinner I know how much time goes into handspun,but the results are so worth it! Box of Chocolates is my favorite of the three. ddboots on Rav.

I just started following your blog and enjoy it immensely. You are so readable! I love the touted versatility of the prairie ridge shawl, esp. being able to tie it behind your back. I've been meaning to make a shawl with that design element. If I'm the lucky winner of the kit I would chose to knit it up in Autumnal!

(BTW, I've been knitting up your topsy-turvy toys and have been having a lot of fun with it. I'll have to post the latest projects to Ravelry!)

What a wonderful pattern - you have every right to be very proud of it. I have to say the Iris Garden colorway is my favorite, but then again I am a sucker for all things purple. Great Job!cryla1009 (Rav)

The design is wonderful, and all the colors are just beautiful! It would be hard to choose. Thanks for giving some background info on Infinite Twist and on the women who spin the yarn. It all comes together to make a very special shawl!

The design is beautiful!!I would pick the Iris Garden.So interesting to hear the back story of the yarn. How wonderful that these women can find a way to lift their families into a better way of life! Thanks Susan.R.lang@live.com

Beautiful! I do want to squish that ball of yarn...it looks yummy! Thanks for sharing the story on the yarn! My favourite would also be the Irish garden! Susan.cutt@gmail.com or suecutt on ravelry. Thanks and happy fall!

Absolutely lovely. And I love the shot where it looks to be hanging in mid-air. I would love to have this in box of chocolate. A beautiful addition to anyones' wardrobe. Thanks for the chance!Knitsensei on Ravelry.

I LOVE the idea of helping to support women in poor communities to make a living through craft, so I think this yarn company sounds great! (I recently backed a Kickstarter project that had a similar aim.)

Hi Susie,Congratulations on your new shawl pattern with this handspun yarn. I have never knit with handspun but it really does look perfectly squishy and luscious! I'm also glad to know that buying this yarn supports a co-op of spinners. My favorite color is definitely the Iris Heather. The color variation looks really beautiful. Thanks to you and Cate for providing this giveaway.Betsy in the Seattle suburbs

That pattern looks like it would be fun to knit--enough interest to keep your attention yet I won't have to read a chart for every stitch--hooray! The Autumnal colorway would make a great gift shawl for my mom (I swear, from Sept.-Nov. she works the word "autumnal" into every conversation.RavID: nmujillybean

Wow! This new shawl is so beautiful and I love the story of Infinite Twist! It would be an honor to knit with this yarn, I love the box of chocolate colorway, mmmmmmm, chocolate! Thanks for another great pattern and introduction to an amazing yarn company!PatriciaLovesYarnjwandpjc@yahoo.com

Wow! This new shawl is so beautiful and I love the story of Infinite Twist! It would be an honor to knit with this yarn, I love the box of chocolate colorway, mmmmmmm, chocolate! Thanks for another great pattern and introduction to an amazing yarn company!PatriciaLovesYarnjwandpjc@yahoo.com

That yarn is absolutely stunning and I can see why you are so excited about it! I love your shawl; those colorways are all gorgeous but I think I like Iris best. Ravelry: fionafae Email: fionafae @ gmail . com

Another lovely design just in time for fall weather. I love that you compared the cost/value of the kit to another of your designs and the yarn used. The perspective is helpful, and makes it all the easier to consider supporting a local artisan, even if they aren't local to me. ;^)

I'm crazy for that Iris Garden, but I might have to start with Box of Chocolates for my sister. A richness of decisions.

Another give away-- Susan you are spoiling us!!! Really two in one ... Pattern and yarn! Thanks so much for offering this. The yarn looks so squishy and what a great match for the pattern!!! Thanks you!!!Meg(rav: stamura)

The shawl, the yarn, the story are all very intriguing. Thanks for your enthusiasm and excellent dsigns. Please include me in the contest to win a kit. Rav ID: ClaudiaJane or email cjane51@gmail.comClaudia

Another give away-- Susan you are spoiling us!!! Really two in one ... Pattern and yarn! Thanks so much for offering this. The yarn looks so squishy and what a great match for the pattern!!! Thanks you!!!Meg(rav: stamura)

I love to not only knit but wear beautiful handmade shawls. The beautiful Prairie Ridge Shawl in the yummy infinite twist is definitely a must knit in the iris color.After visiting Shanghai, I am can totally appreciate and visualize these women working hard on this hand spun yarn. jmdflower758@gmail.com

I love my QRS and this looks like another great shawl, Susan! Congratulations on this coming out! :) I'm really drawn to the Box of Chocolates kit, but seeing as how Fall is on our heels, I really and loving Autumnal as well. :)

How fun to see a new shawl from you at the perfect time. The yarns are so beautiful. I think my favorite is the Iris Garden. Purple is a favorite color. Thanks for offering this opportunity and for continuing to create great patterns. Pam K. Ravid= pamk.

The yarn looks amazing and I'm glad you pointed out the halo on your blocked shawl...so beautiful. If I win this, it will be the BEST 50th Birthday present for myself EVER! Box of Chocolates, yes?Anaanahuron@gmail.com

Thanks for a new shawl design! Love the look when it's tied in the back. Iris Gardens is my favorite, purples all the way. I am happy to hear about lives being changed thru fiber arts. May God bless ya'll.

Love the new design. Congratulations on teaming up with Infinite Twist, they have a great story and I'm sure folks will support them. I love the Autumnal colorway, just my color! Thanks for the giveaway.Rav Id: bookagentPam

Love prairie ridge--I saw it on ravelry yesterday and I love how the iris color reflects the purple of the prairie flowers. but I would have to say the chocolate color would be the one I would knit a shawl in. you are right this kit price is fantastic less than $100 for handspun yarn plus it is supporting women like Zou. fantastic deal!!

Well Susan, you have done it once again! Your design is stunning and I love that it can be worn in so many different ways. Iris garden would be my pick if I were to win your generous giveaway! susie@tomhammerfarms.com

Prairie Ridge is a lovely design. And Iris Garden is a great choice of yarn color! I like that the shawl is shorter and rounded in the back since I am a "vertically challenged" lady - I won't be sitting on it! Another great design!

What a great story behind the yarn company! It's beautiful and I LOVE the box of chocolates colourway. And the shawl... I made Quaker Ridge last fall with extra repeats to make it bigger and it's one of my favorites! Now a similar style in worsted? Perfect!

Hi Susan - I love that you've designed a worsted-weight shawl similar to the Quaker Ridge Shawlette that we had so much fun KAL-ing. A worsted-weight shawl is just what I've been thinking about with fall on the way. I think I like the Box of Chocolates the best - it is rustic and fall-ish and gorgeous; and different from anything I already have! Thanks for the opportunity to win the kit.

Wow! That is a beautiful shawl, and the yarn looks amazing. All three of the colors look exciting -- I like them all! If I knit up this pattern, I'd do it for my wife, so I'd want her input on the color she'd like, but I think I'm particularly drawn to the Box of Chocolates.

I absolutely adore your design! It looks like that year in development really paid off! :) I love the Box of Chocolates colorway, and I'd love the chance to make the shawl with it. Email; Mon.littlefield@gmail.com Rav id: morux

I absolutely adore your design! It looks like that year in development really paid off! :) I love the Box of Chocolates colorway, and I'd love the chance to make the shawl with it. Email; Mon.littlefield@gmail.com Rav id: morux

Oh my goodness! What a beautiful design and that yarn looks incredible! I would love to feel Prairie Ridge knit up in it and I think box of chocolates is my favorite!!! Thanks to Infinite Twist and you, Susan, for a chance to win!

The Infinite Twist yarn is very interesting. Love that it is hand spun and the colors of the kit are gorgeous. Love that Box of Chocolate. I bet it i s even more exquisite I person. Thanks for highlighting this great yarn and company.AnitaSkibum on Ra

Susie, your Prairie Ridge Shawl is lovely, and I can almost feel that yarn from your great pics. I especially enjoyed your bio on Zuo, and the story about the other talented spinners in China. I'm drawn to the colorway that you chose for yourself, but I'll let you decide what color I should make, if you should choose me for the kit giveaway. As you can see from my Ravelry pages, it's about time I made a shawl! I especially like the way you wear it tied in the back. Thanks for the videos too! Great shawl design that compliments the yarn perfectly. Hugs, KimmyZ (Rav ID)

I love supporting yarn companies that help artisans in less fortunate situations. Cate's efforts are definitely to be commended and I loved seeing and reading about Zuo. It's exciting to see who is actually creating the yarn! I love the autumnal colorway.

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